Dental Clinic

Tucked along the Lumber River, Fair Bluff, North Carolina sits near the North Carolina-South Carolina state line. Fair Bluff was a quiet, small town with a modest downtown strip, generations of families living on the same streets, and storefronts that had survived decades of change. One of the many businesses near the downtown strip was this family-owned dental clinic that had served the town for decades.

In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew stalled over the Carolinas and sent the Lumber River surging beyond anything most residents had ever seen. Nearly the entire downtown flooded. Homes were submerged. Businesses were destroyed. More than a thousand residents were displaced almost overnight.

At first, for many, rebuilding felt possible. However, before the town could recover, disaster struck again. In 2018, Hurricane Florence delivered another catastrophic flood. The second blow was the one Fair Bluff could not absorb. Buildings that had barely been salvaged were ruined again. Insurance claims mounted. Investors pulled back. Hope thinned.

Like many rural Southern towns, Fair Bluff was already struggling due to a declining population, limited industry, and a shrinking tax base. When federal and state buyout programs offered residents a way out, many accepted. Entire neighborhoods were cleared. Houses were demolished. Streets that once held generations became empty grass lots.

In the years that followed, most businesses in the flood zone never reopened. Rather than trying to rebuild the old flood-prone downtown in place, town leaders adopted a plan to relocate the commercial center to higher ground. By December 2023, only a handful, such as a single restaurant, gas station, and Dollar General, remained active near the old commercial strip. The old downtown area was planned for demolition and conversion into a park or riverfront space to acknowledge the realities of repeated flooding while giving the town a new identity.